Kelly Shoppach?

[Cobra_Kai]

What's the consensus on Shoppach this year? I haven't heard much talk about him at all. Is V-Mart gong to be DHing/1Bing enough for Shoppach to be an option? He was great from about late June on last year.

[creepingdeath]

I would love to know the answer to this one also. Does anyone have any insight?

[hawkeye2007]

I hear Wedge says Shoppach will get at least 2 of every 5 behind the plate. He will catch C Lee, V Mart catch Carmona. So Shoppach only going to get 2-3 out of every 5 or will he DH at all?

[BitterDodgerFan]

he'll get fewer ABs than most catchers but i think he hits high teens HR or even above 20. great player for 2 catcher leagues.

[West]

I just dropped him for Saltalamacchia. For some reason I was under the impression he would be getting 400+ at bats. He could still scrounge out that many, either by outhitting Garko (VMart to 1B, Garko=bench/right field), or if an injury hits Hafner, Garko, or VMart, or if VMart just gets worn down too much to play catcher more than once or twice a week. I just don't feel like dealing with Shoppach's poor contact rate even when he's in there. However, like Betterdodgerfan, I think he'll easily get 15-20 hr, maybe more if he plays.

[auclairkeithbc]

From everything I've read, he'll get over 400 AB, maybe 450. Now, I've been following it, but it is possible there has been some news that I missed, but until I see a quote from somebody important saying he's only going to catch 2/5 games, I am going to stick to what I have read, indicating he'll catch mostly 4/5 games, with a few more random days off than a normal catcher.

[the izzy]

I just dropped him for Saltalamacchia.

Same here. Salty has been doing great this spring, and I read that they plan to use him 5 times a week at C. That's better than the 2-3 times at C that Shopp is projected to have.

[Yanks_Baby]

VMart's revealed intentions to play first, and really, there's no one stopping him. laPorta's going to the outfield most likely, and Hafner will DH, so VMart will have plenty of opportunity to push Garko out of first and onto the bench or OF for a day. In which case, Shoppach will probably play 3 or 4 out of every 5 games or so. I see him getting around 450-500 AB's this year, and putting up close to 30 homers... with a weka average and peripherals... but 30 homers is 30 homers. Think Mike Napoli with more upside.

[BitterDodgerFan]

30 homers? that's pretty optimistic, and would make him the best option at C for power.

[Yanks_Baby]

30 homers? that's pretty optimistic, and would make him the best option at C for power.

Next to Soto and McCann. And I see him that way.

Pure Power Catchers:
Soto (I'm a Soto Homer. I know.)
McCann
Shoppach
Napoli
Posada
Sandoval

Of course, at the same time Shoppach could only reach his floor of around 15-20 homers with crappy peripherals, low runs, low everything.

If he gets over 450 AB's, he's a top 12 C in my book.